Bahrain in new insurance awareness drive

Manama, March 20, 2014

Industry stakeholders have come together to tackle the exceptionally low insurance penetration in Bahrain and the region.

According to experts, the current regional average is around one-two per cent, which means that as many as 98 per cent of citizens and residents don't have any insurance.

The Bahrain Insurance Association (BIA) considers it a huge untapped opportunity and is gearing up to make the most of it, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

Under the patronage of the Central Bank of Bahrain and with the support of the Manama Municipality, the BIA is kickstarting its week-long Insurance Awareness Week 2014 campaign from today (March 20).

Promoting various insurance products such as health insurance, home insurance and life insurance will be the focus of this year's campaign.

"Amna", BIA's insurance mascot sporting traditional Bahraini attire will play the key role in conveying the messages to the public.

The centrepiece of the awareness campaign will be a promotional stand at the Bahrain City Centre.

A huge cut out of 'Amna' will draw the attention of mall visitors, who will be provided with more information about insurance products, attractive giveaways and so on.

"As the insurance industry's umbrella organisation, BIA has been promoting the importance of insurance in people's lives," its chairman Younis Jamal told a Press conference at the CBB.

"Thanks to our initiatives over the past years, we have been quite successful in changing the perception of insurance as a protection against life's unfortunate events to a sound investment to achieve one's aspirations," he stated.

"People are still in the dark when it comes to the various benefits offered by insurance products. For instance, most people are not aware that a health insurance can cover home nursing expenses or for that matter, a home insurance can protect domestic servants as well," he added.

"So our main focus will be to make the public aware about the multiple benefits of having a home, health or life insurance," said Younis.

In addition to the promotional stand at the BCC, BIA's multi-media campaign utilises other media vehicles such as outdoor banners, SMS, radio jingles and press advertisements.

The print advertisements will follow a three-day 'answer and win' teaser campaign that enables the readers to win surprise gifts with their knowledge of insurance products.

"Insurance industry is a vital segment of the Bahraini economy and the CBB is committed to supporting its growth," said CBB executive director for financial institutions supervision Abdul Rahman Al Baker.

"There is a huge potential market for innovative insurance products and by creating more awareness, insurance companies can boost their business prospects greatly.

"In association with BIA, we are bringing together the companies in the insurance sector to co-operate constructively to the benefit of the sector and the public," he added.-TradeArabia News Service